Transformative Justice in Tunisia and Egypt
Lead Research Organisation:
University of York
Department Name: Centre for Applied Human Rights
Abstract
The Arab world was shaken in 2011 by a series of popular movements, collectively known as the 'Arab spring(s)', that have challenged long established authoritarian regimes. What will be the medium and long term impacts of these uprisings? Who is driving (and contesting) change, and what kind of change is being sought? This study addresses these issues in the context of the contested transitions in Tunisia and Egypt.
It is based on the following premise: for these uprisings to deliver on their potential will require transformative change that emphasises local agency and resources, the prioritization of process rather than pre-conceived outcomes, and the challenging of unequal power relationships and structures of exclusion. Such change is here named transformative justice. The overarching research question is: How is transformative change defined and delivered in the context of political transition (in Tunisia and Egypt), and which actors, institutions and structures drive and contest such change?
The study's aim is to analyse the agendas of those driving and contesting change using an actor-oriented perspective. Field research about 'drivers of change' - agents, formal and informal institutions, structures - and the four key areas of contestation (elections, constitutions, transitional justice, economic policy), will provide insights to local understandings of transformation and agendas for change. Actors interviewed will be as follows: the old political guard, military and police, economic and judicial elites, Islamic groups, youth, women, human rights organisations, trade and labour unions, and the urban and rural poor. A large interview data set (over 700 interviews) will be complemented by focus groups and basic quantitative analysis. The research will look at changing attitudes over time (conducting two sets of interviews, one year apart) and document a range of voices and perspectives (urban/rural, supporters/opponents of the revolutions).
The research will reach diverse audiences and maximise impact by using appropriate languages (Arabic, French, English) and media e.g. a project website; workshops and conferences; official, social and citizen media; public events; policy briefings, a tool kit and academic outputs; etc. In addition to conventional academic outputs such as peer reviewed articles and books, the research project will deliver three policy briefings -'Defining and Operationalising Transformative Justice'; 'Securing Transformation through Transitional Justice'; and 'Expanding the Scope of Transitional Justice' - and a transformative justice toolkit, outlining concrete strategies and entry-points for policy makers and practitioners. As such, the research will benefit policy-makers and practitioners (donors, inter-governmental agencies, policy think tanks, NGOs and civil society groups, etc.), as well as academics.
Research of this kind speaks to several ESRC strategic priorities, notably security, conflict and justice ('competing ideas of justice', 'changing patterns of conflicts'), and social diversity and population dynamics ('how diverse communities can minimise violent conflict while sustaining rights for all').
The research will represent a partnership between a White Rose (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield, York) and Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) research collaboration on transformative justice on the one hand, and the American University in Cairo (AUC) on the other. The research is multidisciplinary in range and methods and includes specialists in fields such as transitional justice, human rights, democratisation, development and political economy. Members of the Advisory Board have shaped the proposal and will engage with all parts of the research process. Local members of the Board will be particularly important in securing access to interviewees, advising on security, and framing dissemination and outreach strategies.
It is based on the following premise: for these uprisings to deliver on their potential will require transformative change that emphasises local agency and resources, the prioritization of process rather than pre-conceived outcomes, and the challenging of unequal power relationships and structures of exclusion. Such change is here named transformative justice. The overarching research question is: How is transformative change defined and delivered in the context of political transition (in Tunisia and Egypt), and which actors, institutions and structures drive and contest such change?
The study's aim is to analyse the agendas of those driving and contesting change using an actor-oriented perspective. Field research about 'drivers of change' - agents, formal and informal institutions, structures - and the four key areas of contestation (elections, constitutions, transitional justice, economic policy), will provide insights to local understandings of transformation and agendas for change. Actors interviewed will be as follows: the old political guard, military and police, economic and judicial elites, Islamic groups, youth, women, human rights organisations, trade and labour unions, and the urban and rural poor. A large interview data set (over 700 interviews) will be complemented by focus groups and basic quantitative analysis. The research will look at changing attitudes over time (conducting two sets of interviews, one year apart) and document a range of voices and perspectives (urban/rural, supporters/opponents of the revolutions).
The research will reach diverse audiences and maximise impact by using appropriate languages (Arabic, French, English) and media e.g. a project website; workshops and conferences; official, social and citizen media; public events; policy briefings, a tool kit and academic outputs; etc. In addition to conventional academic outputs such as peer reviewed articles and books, the research project will deliver three policy briefings -'Defining and Operationalising Transformative Justice'; 'Securing Transformation through Transitional Justice'; and 'Expanding the Scope of Transitional Justice' - and a transformative justice toolkit, outlining concrete strategies and entry-points for policy makers and practitioners. As such, the research will benefit policy-makers and practitioners (donors, inter-governmental agencies, policy think tanks, NGOs and civil society groups, etc.), as well as academics.
Research of this kind speaks to several ESRC strategic priorities, notably security, conflict and justice ('competing ideas of justice', 'changing patterns of conflicts'), and social diversity and population dynamics ('how diverse communities can minimise violent conflict while sustaining rights for all').
The research will represent a partnership between a White Rose (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield, York) and Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) research collaboration on transformative justice on the one hand, and the American University in Cairo (AUC) on the other. The research is multidisciplinary in range and methods and includes specialists in fields such as transitional justice, human rights, democratisation, development and political economy. Members of the Advisory Board have shaped the proposal and will engage with all parts of the research process. Local members of the Board will be particularly important in securing access to interviewees, advising on security, and framing dissemination and outreach strategies.
Planned Impact
Impact will be secured through three pathways: 1) Civil society awareness in Tunisia and Egypt. 2) Governmental and inter-governmental policy. 3) Researcher and organisational networking and capacity building.
Beneficiaries and users of the research will reflect these pathways: 1) Grassroots groups, women's organisations, human rights NGOs, the media and the general public in Tunisia and Egypt. 2) Government representatives in Tunisia, Egypt and the UK, regional bodies such as the European Union (EU), African Union (AU) and League of Arab States (LAS), and international agencies such as the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank. 3) Academic and NGO researchers. Dissemination methods will be adapted to the relevant user.
1) Civil Society:
- Documentation: Since the mobilizations started in Tunisia and Egypt, the pace of events has left few actors with the capacity to carry out documentation-related activities. The core research team will work with local oral history and archival projects to make the distinctive outcomes of this research publically available, e.g. via the website, and cross reference other projects where appropriate, subject to the willingness of interviewees to participate in such initiatives and security considerations.
- Engaging with the public: Where security allows, free public events will be hosted. Such events will allow audiences to engage with the project's preliminary and final findings. Short summaries of the main findings in appropriate languages will be made available. Local researchers will host the events and documenting audience feedback. Finding summaries will be posted on the project's website, twitter and other social media, and published in local newspapers, allowing for further public debate.
2) Governmental and Inter-governmental:
- Shaping national and regional policy agendas: Priority will be given to informing government policy in Tunisia, Egypt and the UK, and regional policy within the EU, AU and LAS. An ongoing conversation will be sought with government departments in Tunisia and Egypt. Where possible, contact Ministries will reflect the holistic approach to transformative justice e.g. Justice, but also Finance. In the UK the main interlocutors will be DFID and the FCO. Representatives from governments and regional bodies will be invited to Advisory Board meetings and to the final conference in York.
- Shaping international policy agendas: Key actors in shaping the transitional justice agenda - e.g. International Centre for Transitional Justice - are represented on the Advisory Board. But a transformative justice agenda requires a broader set of interlocutors e.g. the UNDP and the World Bank. Again, an ongoing conversation will be the objective, and representatives from these actors will be invited to Advisory Board meetings and to the final conference in York. The policy briefings and the transformative justice toolkit will be directed primarily to this audience (as well as to national and regional policy actors).
At national, regional and international levels the aim is to inform holistic, locally driven policy responses to structural problems.
3) Researchers and Organisations:
- Creating local and international networks: The project will create a network of scholars and practitioners interested in transformative justice - the network will build on links between White Rose and WUN universities and local actors represented on the Advisory Board, and strengthen under-developed connections between relevant parties in Tunisia and Egypt.
- Researcher and organisational capacity building: The research process will build long term, institutional and organisational research capacity by engaging local researchers and Advisory Board members. Young researchers will be prioritised in this process as will the development of a PhD network, with strong roots in both Tunisia/Egypt and the UK - as part of creating local and international networks.
Beneficiaries and users of the research will reflect these pathways: 1) Grassroots groups, women's organisations, human rights NGOs, the media and the general public in Tunisia and Egypt. 2) Government representatives in Tunisia, Egypt and the UK, regional bodies such as the European Union (EU), African Union (AU) and League of Arab States (LAS), and international agencies such as the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank. 3) Academic and NGO researchers. Dissemination methods will be adapted to the relevant user.
1) Civil Society:
- Documentation: Since the mobilizations started in Tunisia and Egypt, the pace of events has left few actors with the capacity to carry out documentation-related activities. The core research team will work with local oral history and archival projects to make the distinctive outcomes of this research publically available, e.g. via the website, and cross reference other projects where appropriate, subject to the willingness of interviewees to participate in such initiatives and security considerations.
- Engaging with the public: Where security allows, free public events will be hosted. Such events will allow audiences to engage with the project's preliminary and final findings. Short summaries of the main findings in appropriate languages will be made available. Local researchers will host the events and documenting audience feedback. Finding summaries will be posted on the project's website, twitter and other social media, and published in local newspapers, allowing for further public debate.
2) Governmental and Inter-governmental:
- Shaping national and regional policy agendas: Priority will be given to informing government policy in Tunisia, Egypt and the UK, and regional policy within the EU, AU and LAS. An ongoing conversation will be sought with government departments in Tunisia and Egypt. Where possible, contact Ministries will reflect the holistic approach to transformative justice e.g. Justice, but also Finance. In the UK the main interlocutors will be DFID and the FCO. Representatives from governments and regional bodies will be invited to Advisory Board meetings and to the final conference in York.
- Shaping international policy agendas: Key actors in shaping the transitional justice agenda - e.g. International Centre for Transitional Justice - are represented on the Advisory Board. But a transformative justice agenda requires a broader set of interlocutors e.g. the UNDP and the World Bank. Again, an ongoing conversation will be the objective, and representatives from these actors will be invited to Advisory Board meetings and to the final conference in York. The policy briefings and the transformative justice toolkit will be directed primarily to this audience (as well as to national and regional policy actors).
At national, regional and international levels the aim is to inform holistic, locally driven policy responses to structural problems.
3) Researchers and Organisations:
- Creating local and international networks: The project will create a network of scholars and practitioners interested in transformative justice - the network will build on links between White Rose and WUN universities and local actors represented on the Advisory Board, and strengthen under-developed connections between relevant parties in Tunisia and Egypt.
- Researcher and organisational capacity building: The research process will build long term, institutional and organisational research capacity by engaging local researchers and Advisory Board members. Young researchers will be prioritised in this process as will the development of a PhD network, with strong roots in both Tunisia/Egypt and the UK - as part of creating local and international networks.
Publications
Gready P
(2020)
Transitional Justice and Theories of Change: Towards evaluation as understanding
in International Journal of Transitional Justice
Gready P
(2014)
From Transitional to Transformative Justice: A New Agenda for Practice
in International Journal of Transitional Justice
Gready P
(2017)
Rethinking civil society and transitional justice: lessons from social movements and 'new' civil society
in The International Journal of Human Rights
Gready P
(2017)
Rethinking civil society and transitional justice: lessons from social movements and 'new' civil society
in The International Journal of Human Rights
Hoddy E
(2018)
Critical realism in empirical research: employing techniques from grounded theory methodology
in International Journal of Social Research Methodology
Hoddy E
(2020)
Peasants' rights and agrarian violence in transitional settings: From transitional justice to transformative agrarian justice
in Journal of Human Rights
Hoddy E
(2020)
From agency to root causes: addressing structural Barriers to transformative justice in transitional and post-conflict settings
in Contemporary Social Science
Robins S
(2022)
Transitional justice from the margins: Collective reparations and Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission
in Political Geography
| Description | This research project began at the start of 2014, and sought to assess the potential for transformative justice in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, specifically in Egypt and Tunisia. In doing so, its goal was to align transitional politics and justice with the goals of the revolutions (bread, freedom, human dignity), and address more global critiques of transitional justice. However, from the start of the project it was clear that the political context of the project had radically altered, and the space for transitional and transformative justice was highly contested. Egypt returned to de facto military rule, and has if anything become more repressive than under Mubarak. Tunisia is the only Arab Spring state still 'in transition', but even here elements of the old guard remain in power, economic elites and corruption are unchallenged, and poverty and inequality continue to be endemic. Our research findings need to be placed in this unanticipated and changing political context. We conducted around 400 interviews across two phases of research, and in diverse settings (urban, rural, etc.) Our key findings are as follows: 1) Post-2014, many people in both Egypt and Tunisia perceive the revolutions in a negative way, and specifically as a threat to their physical and economic security, as well as having failed to realise their broader promise. 2) In both settings transitional justice became highly politicized. In Egypt, transitional justice has been ineffective and used to target political opponents. In Tunisia, transitional justice has been undermined by divisions between the main political parties and the Islamist / secular divide, and by a commitment of the current government to pardon economic elites linked to the dictatorship. 3) In Egypt, the research adjusted to look at 'spaces for transformation' in the context of rising repression and 'shrinking civil society space'. We identified some 'spaces' where transformative change was still imagined and practiced e.g. the secession of governerates from central control, online platforms, etc. 4) In Tunisia, research explored the potential for transitional justice mechanisms, and specifically the Truth and Dignity Commission (TDC), to achieve transformative outcomes. For example, we collaborated with the Women's Commission of the TDC to better understand sexual violence in detention and will support the writing of the Commission's report and recommendations on transformative reparations. 5) The research provided a range of methodological insights. These include: the opportunities and challenges arising from collaborating with the TDC; how to work 'on the threshold' of non-academic partners (neither an insider nor an outsider); challenges of translation (linguistic, conceptual, across theory and practice); and more. Outputs of the grant will include: - Reports published in both countries by partners with an advocacy goal. - Contributions to the Tunisian TDC Final Report, and a paper discussing transformative reparations to drive non-repetition of sexual violence against women. - Several chapters contributed to an edited volume on transitional justice in Tunisia, the first substantive volume on the topic in English. - An edited volume devoted to the project research in Egypt. - An edited volume on research methods. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings are currently being taken forward both by researchers involved in the project and by project partners on the ground. Academically, a number of publications and books will emerge from ongoing analysis, through collaborative efforts of the research team and Tunisian and Egyptian partners. The practice engagement in Tunisia has seen the project frame both a dissatisfaction with transitional justice and a desire for deeper social change through a transformative lens. Civil society partners will use such approaches in their future work and are using the project data for advocacy. Work with the TDC continues through an ESRC IAA funded project that will support a transformative gender perspective in both the TDC Final Report and recommendations, and in the building of a coalition to advocate for a transformative approach to gender in and beyond the transition. Such impacts, if successful, will be long lasting. The support of new approaches to both justice and transition, as well as ethnographic approaches to data-taking, have created a cadre of individuals who have benefited from a close engagement with the project. These partners will continue to work in research and civil society in Egypt and Tunisia in ways that will ensure that the transformative agenda remains both visible and engaged. More generally, the project has contributed to the emerging field of transformative justice, both within transitional justice and other settings where structural change is prioritized. As such, its findings will be taken forward in diverse locations and by various actors. |
| Sectors | Government Democracy and Justice Security and Diplomacy |
| Description | The Transformative Justice project has had a range of demonstrable impacts, both practically - in Tunisia in particular - and in terms of disseminating an innovative discourse around transition, in both academia and practice. In Egypt, the second context in which research was made, the space for impact has been minimised by a resurgent authoritarianism that has made any idea of transition or transformation moot. The most visible impact of the project has been in Tunisia, and in particular around the ongoing transitional justice process. The project entered into a formal agreement with the Truth and Dignity Commission (TDC) that is the sole significant element of a process to address histories of rights violations that has been highly contested. The main goal of the research engagement with the formal process was to seek to inject ideas of transitional justice as potentially transformative, and such ideas were indeed taken on board by some of the Commissioners. In particular, the Chair of the Women's Commission has fully embraced the importance of a transformative approach to gender in Tunisia's transition, seeing the TDC as a part of driving policy approaches that identify changing gender norms in Tunisia as a goal. CAHR has continued to work with the TDC Women's Commission in the last year, supported by an ESRC IAA grant, and has supported the TDC in collecting and analysing data from female victims of sexual violence and is making a direct contribution to the TDC Final Report and recommendations. The extent to which project findings and TDC recommendations more generally will ultimately impact on government policy remains unclear, given the visible antagonism between the TDC and the present government. Also in Tunisia, the collaboration with civil society has effectively disseminated ideas of a transformative approach to transitional justice, where before such understandings were not well conceptualised. As one civil society leader said: "We have always been trying to do transformative justice, we just didn't have a name for it". The project has built close relationships with a number of civil society groups and - by engaging them as researchers - has both developed their capacities to think about what justice in transition means and supported them to articulate transformative demands. In the next months Karama ('dignity', the highest profile victims' organisation) will publish a report of the research made in collaboration with the CAHR which seeks to take a transformative approach to relations between victims and the state and to memory. More broadly, victims' groups such a Karama with which we have worked are taking a more transformative approach to both the TDC process, and to their broader advocacy. In Egypt the project worked initially with civil society actors, but in its second phase collaborated with academics as security challenges to partners from the state emerged. Whilst both civil society and academic partners have been exposed to discourses of transformative justice, the lack of any political space to articulate or advance these limits their impact. Globally, the Transformative Justice project has allowed CAHR researchers to present conceptual work, backed up by empirical data from Tunisia, to a range of actors in practice. This has been reinforced by the academic work that has been produced around the project that has included the following publications by the CAHR team: - Gready, Paul and Simon Robins (2018) Transitional Justice and Theories of Change, Development and Change, in preparation. - Gready, Paul and Simon Robins (2017) Rethinking Civil Society and Transitional Justice: lessons from social movements and new civil society, The International Journal of Human Rights 21/7, 2017: 956-75. - Robins, Simon (2015) Mapping a Future for Transitional Justice by Learning from Its Past (review article), Int. Journal of Transitional Justice, 9/1, 2015:181-190. - Gready, Paul and Simon Robins (2014) From Transitional to Transformative Justice: A new agenda for practice. Int. Journal of Transitional Justice, 8/3, 2014: 339-61. The project and is implications have been discussed with staff of the International Centre for Transitional Justice, the leading international NGO working in the sector, in both Tunis and New York, and has given them a conceptual frame for ideas they have long explored. Creating an intellectual basis for practical explorations of transformative justice will continue, using academic outputs that leverage the results and experience of the research project, including the following books that are in preparation: - Gready, Paul and Simon Robins (eds.) From Transitional to Transformative Justice (CUP, with the publisher). - Gready, Paul and Simon Robins (eds.) Methods in Transition (Routledge, in preparation) - Rieker, Martina (ed.) Rethinking Change: Insights from Egypt (Routledge, proposal submitted) |
| First Year Of Impact | 2016 |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy |
| Impact Types | Societal Policy & public services |
| Description | Reparations for Sexual Violations in Tunisia |
| Amount | £28,310 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2017 |
| End | 01/2018 |
| Description | Security of Rule of Law, Embedding Justice in Power and Politics call |
| Amount | € 312,100 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | W 08.400.102 |
| Organisation | Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Start | 09/2014 |
| End | 10/2016 |
| Description | Tunisia's Transitional Justice Process: Lessons for Global Practice |
| Amount | € 14,970 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | 19227_2.1 |
| Organisation | Knowledge Platform for Security and Rule of Law |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Start | 07/2019 |
| End | 02/2020 |
| Description | Collaboration with the Truth and Dignity Commission in Tunisia |
| Organisation | Truth and Dignity Commission, Tunisia |
| Country | Tunisia |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We negotiated the placement of two part time researchers, funded by the ESRC grant, within the Truth and Dignity Commission. The researchers worked on the issue of reparations for sexual violence, and more generally on the issue of collective reparations - the research was designed to help shape the Commission's policy on these issues. My research team helped train and support the researchers. An ESRC IAA award (ending August 2018) is supporting further research on sexual violence, and the writing of the report and recommendations of the Women's Committee of the Commission. We are helping with research design and with drafting of the report and recommendations. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Commission supervised the researchers on a day to day basis as well as covering some costs e.g. transport. Research produced will be utilized both by the Commission and for our research purposes. Under the ESRC IAA, the Chair of the Women's Committee is working directly with us in drafting the report and recommendations. |
| Impact | No outputs or outcomes as yet. |
| Start Year | 2016 |